In the field of acoustic enhancement, a distinguishment is mainly drawn between enhancement by acoustic insulation and enhancement by acoustic correction.
Acoustic insulation reduces the transmission of sound from one room to another, whether via the floor, the ceiling or the side walls. Acoustic insulation reduces sound of mechanical origin, such as impact or collision sound, and also airborne sound, as well as that generated by persons speaking or hi-fi systems.
Acoustic correction decreases the sound in the room where the acoustic source is located. Acoustic correction applies to sound of mechanical origin and airborne sound. In the case of sound of mechanical origin on a floor, this is referred to as acoustic correction of walking sound.
For several years, to provide acoustic insulation in particular against impact sound, floors have been provided with acoustic underlayers on which the tile type of floor covering is laid. It is known to use cork tiles for this purpose, or rubber based underlayers, which are in the form of tiles or consist of a leveling screed, or even underlayers based on generally synthetic fibers.
Patent application FR 2 361 515 proposes bonding polystyrene plates on the floor and then pouring a mortar screed comprising a mixture of cement, sand and rubber. Once the screed is dry, the tiling is placed on top of it.
Patent EP 0 413 626 B1 discloses a soundproofing tile having a hard surface in comparison with the covering to be laid such as tiling, and having an elastic reaction support on the opposite side. It comprises a dense and flexible layer of supercompressed fibers having a density between 60 and 200 kg/m3 which constitutes the elastic reaction support, and a layer of bitumen reinforced with two thin layers of glass fibers anchored respectively in each of the faces of the bitumen layer to constitute the rigid face of this tile, the rigid layer having a thickness of about 5 to 6 mm with a mass per unit area of about 10 kg/m2.
Document FR 2 693 221 proposes an insulation solution in the form of rolls. This underlayer comprises a main layer which is placed on the covering side and a secondary layer which is arranged on the opposite side, the floor side.
The secondary layer is a material based, for example, on a polymer of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane rubber (PUR), polyethylene (PE), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) type, and having a thickness of between 0.1 mm and 5 mm, with a density not exceeding 800 kg/m3.
The main layer of the underlayer serves to provide the mechanical strength of the whole underlayer. Its constituent material is, for example, a synthetic polymer such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or even a bitumen, but it may also be made from materials of natural origin such as wood fibers. This layer is relatively hard on the surface but remains sufficiently flexible to be rolled up so that the underlayer can be provided in the form of rolls.
However, all these acoustic insulation underlayers require specific systems to be installed, time-consuming application methods, and sometimes demand the involvement of professionals, in particular in the preparation of screeds which require knowhow and generate drying times.
In fact, whether for the artisan or the private individual who wants to lay his tiling himself, providing it with an acoustic underlayer, it is always desirable to reduce the laying time and to facilitate the implementation of the assembly.
It is an object of the invention to provide a solution that serves to install the tiling rapidly and simply, while conferring acoustic enhancement properties on the installed covering.
The figures are not to scale for ease of reading.